Job Forecast

Career Outlook

There is a clear growing need in the workforce for convergence-IT* workers:

The U.S. Department of Labor expects that computer and IT occupation employment will grow 13% from 2016 to 2026 and add over 540,000 new jobs. Demand for these workers will be driven by a growing emphasis on cloud computing, big data, and information security."

Forbes reports that there will be a global shortage of 2 million cybersecurity professionals by 2019, a demand driven by increasing data breaches and ransomware attacks, the rise of hackers-for-hire, and the proliferation of under-protected Internet of Things devices.

CIO.com recently named System Administrator, Network Administrator, and Help Desk Technician among the seven most "in-demand tech jobs."

Intel forecasts 200 billion connected Internet of Things smart devices worldwide by 2020. IT specialists will be needed to manage and support these vast networks of "things."

Gartner predicts that cloud service revenue – including infrastructure, application, and business process services – will reach $411 billion by 2020. IT specialists are needed to manage this vast number of cloud services.

61% of CIOs recently by Robert Half Technology report that it is challenging to find skilled IT workers to hire.

A recently joint survey of 500+ employers conducted by Capgemini and LinkedIn found that the need for employees with strong soft skills (59%) was greater than the need for employees with strong technical skills (51%).

*All data above is a picture of reports, surveys and studies on the employment outlook from a variety of sources. Not all the information sources will reflect the educational requirements for the positions, the geographic variables or the changing economic conditions that have occurred since these reports were published. IT in some cases may also refer to programming, which is not primarily defined as a convergence technology.

Salary Outlook

And with that growing demand comes higher wages:

"Computer Network Specialist" is listed by GetEducated.com as one of the 20 highest-paying jobs for graduates with an associate's degree. The job has a median salary of $52,160 and has over 835,000 jobs.

Payscale.com projects a "Network Administration" associate's degree major to earn $40,000 in early career pay and $63,900 in mid-career pay. An "Information Technology" associate's degree major could earn $39,800 in early career pay and $63,000 in mid-career pay.

Robert Half Technology's "2017 Salary Guide for Technology Professionals" projects a salary range of $78,000 to $117,750 for a Network Administrator, which is a 4% increase from the previous year. A Wireless Network Engineer's range is $113,250-$158,000, a 4.5% bump.

The information above "(Job Titles" and "Salary Range") was found using Payscale.com's website, and it is accurate as of June 19, 2018. This data reflects the national salary range and may not be a direct reflection of the market in your area. Salary amounts also reflect multiple positions that have these particular certifications and may include needed additional skills and certifications.

Future Trends

North Central Texas Interlink, Inc. assembled a group of IT thought leaders and futurists to identify future trends. The goal was to help guide students into high-demand careers and educators toward the next wave of technologies for inclusion in future programs.

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1205077. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.